Parish Council News

It is with regret that we report that Cllr Debi Morisot has resigned from the Parish Council. We thank her for the 3 years she has given to the local community. Parish elections are due in May 2019. If you are considering standing, why not speak to councillors or the clerk now and experience a year of what life is like as a Parish Councillor? We really do need 2 more councillors to assist with the projects we would like to progress: equipment on our play area, maintenance of the field, the refurbishment of the RAF graves by the War Graves Commission, traffic calming, planning, etc. If you wish to become a councillor please do contact either the clerk or a councillor. This parish needs more support.

Church Lane field: From the footpath to behind Barnfield is now owned by the Parish Council. Councillors agreed that the hedge should be faced to remove the brambles and reclaim some of the field. We are hoping that this can be achieved before the bird nesting season starts but, if not, it will be cut in the autumn. We will be looking at whether parts of the hedge can be laid. Obviously the cost will also need to be taken into consideration. The field will be cut during the spring and summer months for residents to walk in, for children and families to play in and for picnics. It could also be used for community events, although permission would need to be sought from the Parish Council beforehand. The Parish Council has no issue with dogs being walked in this field but failure to pick up waste after your animal could result in this decision being reversed. We ask all residents to report any person not clearing up after their dog. The dog warden will be notified and a fine could be imposed. Let's work together to keep our parish safe and clean.

Play area: Councillors agreed to refurbish the play area. We have £41,000 from the Spitfire Development for new play equipment and surfacing. Play equipment is extremely expensive but we believe that this funding should greatly improve this area. If any resident is interested in either leading this project or being part of it, please contact either the clerk or a councillor. We really do want to move this forward this year but need help.

Gaydon Inn Development: A planning application has been received for replacing the street lights on the Gaydon Inn development with bollards. Any resident wishing to look at the details can do so by accessing the District Council website.

Gaydon Service Station: The Service Station has just submitted a second application for a shop, drive through coffee, etc. If you are interested in this application please look on the District Council website.

M40 bridge: Highways England have explained that they will not consider raised fencing or further signage on the M40 bridge. Please do take care if you cycle over the bridge.

Link Road: County Cllr Williams has reported that engineering works will be taking place shortly on the link road to resolve the problem of flooding.

Kineton Road development: Edgehill View was the name chosen for the road on the Kineton Road development.

B4100 Ditch: The ownership of this ditch has been disputed over many years. Spitfire Development's solicitor claimed that it was owned by the County Council. We were told by our County Councillor a while ago that because this was a legal matter he was unable to update us. Our advice to residents is that if this ditch becomes blocked and you believe your property could be flooded as a result, you should report to the County Council. You must state on the call or email that you believe you are at risk of flooding. The County Council is responsible for flooding.

Warwick Road: The magnificent Wellingtonia trees that line the driveway to The Old Vicarage have been given preservation orders.

Community Governance Review: Thanks to Cllrs Hughes and Brine we have been able to suggest to the District Council boundary changes relating to GLH. It has been suggested to SDC that the whole of JLR should be within Gaydon Parish. Gaydon Coppice will also remain in our parish. The fishing lakes will move into Lighthorne Heath Parish as they will be part of the new development. Let's hope this is reflected in the boundary review which could take place this summer. All residents will be able to provide comments to the Boundary Commission when the consultation starts.

Cemetery: The War Graves Commission would like to refurbish the 13 RAF graves in Gaydon Cemetery. The graves will be redesigned in line with a worldwide approved design. Councillors are in favour of this.

Precept: Councillors agreed to increase the parish precept to £11,273 for 2018/19 which will result in an approximate annual increase of £3.88 per year on a band D property's council tax. This is necessary because of a reduction in grant from the District Council (from £200 to £120) and the need for traffic calming measures within our parish. Although County Cllr Williams has agreed to provide £10,000 towards traffic calming, he says that this money needs to be match-funded by the Parish Council. Finding £10,000 when our precept is only £11,273 will be difficult but we really do not want to lose County Cllr Williams' ten thousand pounds.

Mothering Sunday

There will be a Mothering Sunday service on 11 March at 10.30am at St Giles' Church, Gaydon.

*Children's Easter Activities

There will be Easter fun for children in Gaydon Village Hall at 10.30am on Good Friday, 30th March. On Easter Sunday there will be an Easter Egg Hunt at church after the 11am service.

P@THWAY PRAISE

On Sunday 4 March there will be P@THWAY PRAISE at Temple Herdwyke Community Centre. It starts at 4.15pm and includes refreshments and informal worship. See www.dassettmagna.org.uk

Letter from the Vicarage

Dear Friends,

As we enter the season of Lent, a time when we get ready for the events that happen in Holy Week, the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I started to wonder why we call Good Friday 'good'. It's such a dark and bleak event, commemorating a day of suffering and death for Jesus. According to the Bible, the son of God was flogged, ordered to carry the cross on which he would be crucified and then put to death. It's difficult to see what's 'good' about it. Some Christian traditions do reflect the dark events that took place on Good Friday - in German, the day is called Karfreitag, or 'Sorrowful Friday'. Some sources suggest the day is 'good' because it's holy, or that the phrase is a corruption of 'God's Friday'.

Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because the suffering and death of Jesus, terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God's plan to save his people from their sins. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be a momentous weekend in the history of the world, the decisive turning point for all creation. Good Friday happened so that we could receive the joy of Easter, the glorious celebration of Jesus being raised from the dead.

Good Friday marks the day when wrath and mercy met at the cross and that is why Good Friday is so dark and so 'good'.

May God bless you this Easter and give you grateful hearts for the life Jesus poured out for us; and for his suffering on Good Friday that took our sin away and led to his resurrection, our hope of eternal life. Rev'd Nicki Chatterton

Lenten Compline

During Lent, there will be a service of compline each week. The next service will be on Tuesday 6 March at Northend; then Tuesday 13th at FennyCompton and finally, Tuesday 20th at Farnborough.

Messy Church

There will be children's Messy Church in Fenny Compton village hall at 3.30pm on Sunday 18 March.

Nature Notes for February

A bleak freezing month so far for Gaydon. In spite of very cold daytime temperatures, the Snowdrops are still peeping through in our Churchyard and also, in more spectacular fashion, in Chadshunt. There are early Helibores, too, in some sheltered wooded areas like Itchington Holt.

Quite recently though, there have been some superb sunny days with flawless blue skies. Today, there were actually a few groups of Midges dancing in clearings and I noticed a group of Rooks building a new nest - perhaps knowing spring may not be too far away. The site was quite low in a hedgerow and often young birds try and establish new colonies like this: there were about a dozen spectators who might join them. Rooks are very beneficial birds, eating huge quantities of 'leather jackets' and other grubs. I do remember back in the fifties eating Rook Pie served on a dish of hard boiled eggs. Sadly, the young birds were shot out of their nests before they could fly, with special rook guns filled with birdshot. The colony would then be left in peace to start a new brood, and this was perhaps the reason why seemingly vulnerable Rookeries survived. It was also bad luck to remove one! Times change and it is more likely now that the complaint against them will be the droppings on parked cars. I was amused to read recently that a council responded to these complaints by putting up a couple of plastic owls; these failed to deter the birds and one even built a nest on top of one of the owls!

A friend of mine recently rescued a Buzzard from between the blades of a plough: it probably got there by following the tractor like seagulls do - though Buzzards tend to walk behind, as worms are a favourite food. He tended it for a few days and it was surprisingly gentle and is now recovering at a rescue centre. If you drive towards the M40 junction you are sure to see a Buzzard perched on the lamps.

The edge of Itchington Holt has a large arable field where a lot of Roe deer, seemingly oblivious to the drone of traffic, graze the edges of the wood. They have grown their heavy blackish winter coats, whilst the Muntjacs, which you also encounter walking there, are still a rich chestnut colour.

I am amazed how my peanut feeders are emptying so fast - often there are a dozen blue tits; and the Gold Finches rarely leave the Nyger seed feeders in the day either. This high-protein food is keeping them alive during the cold spell. I even noticed a Green Woodpecker one morning and I know that many villagers have also seen this colourful bird which tends to pick up the fallen food from the ground. I have also seen a large flock of Golden Plovers feeding in the fields by the side of the M40, undeterred by the massed lights on the link roads, I'm glad to say. Bernard Price

Compton Verney

The spring exhibition, which opens on Saturday 17 March, is entitled Ravilious & Co and chronicles the personal and professional relationships between Eric Ravilious and other artist-designers such as Paul and John Nash, Enid Marx and Edward Bawden. The exhibition marks the 75th anniversary of the tragic and mysterious death of Ravilious in the Second World War when he was working as an official war artist. visit comptonverney.org.uk

Mobile Library

The Library will visit the Telephone Box at Gaydon on Monday 12 March from 1.35-2.05pm.

Friendship Club

The March meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th at 2.30pm at 2 Anson Close, by kind invitation of Mrs Josie Liddington.

Morning Coffee

Our coffee morning will be on Saturday 10 March at 11am in the Village Hall. There is a bring and buy stall, a book stall, a raffle and, of course, coffee and biscuits (50p). We raise money for our local parish church, St Giles, and welcome any contributions.

Monopoly Supper Evening

in Gaydon Village Hall
Come and play Monopoly as you've never played it before!
Saturday 24th March 2018 at 6.30pm
£12 adults and £7 children
Play games in teams with a break for Shepherd's Pie and Dessert
There will be a bar and soft drinks. There will also be a real "jail" and prizes for those who make the most money!
Please contact Annette Conway for tickets on 01926 640444
We will need to know numbers by Friday 16 March please.

All Saints' Church, Burton Dassett

Restoration Committee Forthcoming Events in 2018
28 May Bank Holiday teas in All Saints' Church
15 June Warwick University Brass Band in Concert at All Saints'
23 June Piston Heads meet in Kineton. For the car enthusiasts!
24 June Da Capo Concert in All Saints' with afternoon tea
24 July Tea in the garden at Northend Manor
27 August Bank Holiday teas and crafts in All Saints' Church
1st September Roderick Williams, O.B.E., in concert at All Saints'
25 September Antiques Evening at Locke & England in Leamington
14 November Lunch in Knightcote Village Hall
4 December Coffee morning in Northend

APCM

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be held in the parish church of St Giles, on Wednesday 11 April at 7.30pm. Everyone on the church Electoral Roll is invited to attend. It is an important meeting at which church officers are elected.

Gaydon Community Speedwatch Group

The Community Speed Watch group (CSW) have had a tremendous response to the request for additional volunteers to support our village campaign to reduce traffic speeds throughout Gaydon - thank you.

For those of you not at the Parish Council meeting on Tuesday

6 February I have provided a brief update on our progress to date.

After a meeting in January with the Warwickshire Commissioner for Police and Crime it was agreed there would be the following support made available in terms of resource and costs covered:

- One full time Police Officer dedicated to support all CSW groups

across Warwickshire. Adnan Ali will specifically work to improve and develop relationships with JLR and AML.

- Costs to be covered for the calibration of the speed gun used to

gather data (currently on loan from Lighthorne) at approx. £300.00.

- Signage will be provided whilst CSW are in operation.

- Clothing will be provided such as High Visibility wear.

In addition to this there is a short survey now available on our Gaydon CSW Facebook page. An attempt will also be made to post a paper copy out to all residents. On completion, please return this to the village shop at your earliest convenience. Many thanks for your continued support, Paul Fowle. paulfowle@icloud.com

British Motor Museum

Easter Holiday Activities at the British Motor Museum: Visitors are invited to join in with some 'cracking' fun activities this Easter at the British Motor Museum.

Families can enjoy a traditional Easter Egg hunt (with a motoring twist of course!) over the Easter weekend from 30 March - 2 April, along with daily drop-in craft activities.

This is followed by two weeks of 'AutoScience,' where the science that drives our cars is brought to life with cool interactive live science shows, family tours with our very own 'mad scientist' , Technic work-shops, and a Secret Mission family trail.

All activities are included in Museum admission. Family ticket £39. Buy 1 day and get 12 months free when you Gift Aid your entrance. More details on: www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk or call 01926 641188.

PC News Extra

Banbury Road: Following a concern from a resident regarding the safety of the grates on this road, County Highways have checked them and confirmed that they are secure.

Flag

The flag on the village green was raised on 6 February to mark the Accession to the throne of HM The Queen; and on the 19th for the Birthday of HRH the Duke of York.

Raffle and Quiz; and Quality Cosmetics for sale at rock-bottom prices. Begin Mother's Day weekend by treating yourself to something special!

Tickets £6 on the door or £5 in advance, to include a glass of wine, are available to pick up from: Nifty Needle, 1 Banbury Street, Kineton; or Val at Wellesbourne, 01789 842164; or Ros at Kineton on 01926 691260.

Letter from Down Under

We are delighted to have received once again our annual news from Australia. Our correspondent is Mrs Judith Neddermann, neé Boultbee, a former resident of the 'old' Vicarage when her father was Vicar of Gaydon. Mrs Neddermann now lives with her family in Queensland and is to be congratulated on celebrating her ninetieth birthday last autumn. She enjoys reading our news each month in the Parish Magazine and sends her good wishes to everyone in Gaydon - especially to anyone who remembers her after all these years!

Gaydon Village Hall News

The Committee are sorry that some people hiring the hall this year have found it rather cold. In extremely cold weather we are unable to get it comfortably warm, owing to the structure of the hall; but it is usually fine if the temperatures outside are not too low and if the heating is turned on in good time for an event. However, if the electric radiators are turned off, they need to be turned on again or the hall will not warm up when the timer switches the electricity on.

Hirers: if you turn off the radiators because you are too hot, please turn them on again when you leave the hall. You are also requested not to push the upholstered chairs up against the radiators. Thank you!

The next Committee meeting is on Monday 12 March at 8pm.

Lost and Found

We would like to thank everyone who helped and supported us in looking for our Bengal cat Si-Si who mysteriously disappeared three weeks ago. We are delighted to tell you that she was returned to us from Kineton last weekend and seems to be none the worse for her adventure. Bernard and Deborah Price

Knit and Natter

Four of us met in St Giles' Church on Sunday: Jo, Nicki, Gilly and Sharon; and we have said we'd like to meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays at 5pm, open to anyone of any ability to craft, chat and eat cake together. People will make a donation for use of the church if they are able; and we will work on a range of projects. In the summer we will not even need heat or light but will donate each session to cover the winter. There will be tea or coffee and cake.